Aimee Phelps Lee, a former classmate and current professor at the University of Rhode Island’s College of Business Administration, gave a presentation at URI a few weeks ago on Negotiating Starting Salaries for Women.
It’s a bit long but worth a look…
…and do something.
Every year at this time countless people make New Year’s resolutions. About 95% of them give up after three weeks (a figure I completely made up).
Made a resolution this year? Don’t talk about it. Just do it.
(In fact, Derek Sivers says that telling people your goal actually makes you less likely to complete it.)
Not sure how to get started? Close Outlook, send your phone to voice mail, and pull out a piece of paper. Make a list of all the things that need to get done. Make it as specific as possible. Instead of “Put together a team,” write “Email 5 people and invite them to join the team.”
Get over your inertia. Do amazing things.
Lil Wayne is one of the top artists in hip-hop right now. There are countless talented people in hip-hop – most of them don’t succeed. What’s his secret?
Lil Wayne ships.
He puts out a major studio album every two years. He puts out two mix-tapes a year. He collaborates on countless songs with other artists. And he releases a ton of web singles that never hit an album.
Some of his songs are incredible. Some of them flop. But no matter what, Lil Wayne ships.
HR professionals have a tendency to build collaborative teams of key stakeholders and seek cross-functional buy-in (bingo!). We also don’t always get a lot done, because ideas become stuck in collaboration purgatory, forever held up by “just one more thing” that someone wants added.
Be like Lil Wayne. Ship.
Back in May, Fast Company Magazine wrote:
Want to keep the Gen Y’ers in your office happy? Make sure that you embrace sustainability in a very public way. A new report from Johnson Controls tells us that 18- to 25 year-olds want evidence that their employers are going beyond the minimum levels of environmental compliance by embracing all things green on an everyday basis…
The group also prefers everything from flexible and mobile ways of working to modern office spaces with “subtle art” and natural floor finishes.
My question: Who cares?
What people say they want is largely irrelevant. What they do matters a lot more. Keep reading…
I’m a wellness program hater. I think they’re a waste of time and money.
I know the arguments: HR has a responsibility to keep healthcare costs down. They’re effective when you measure ROI.
Here’s my thing: Virtually everyone today knows what they have to do to be healthy. Eat quality food in moderate portions. Exercise. Repeat.
People who are committed to being healthy will do so. People who aren’t won’t. And any sort of incentive or “biggest loser” program will most likely have great effects in the short term, but long term, you’ll find yourself back where you started. (So says Dan Pink in his latest book, Drive.)
I think an organization’s role in wellness is to provide healthy foods in the cafeteria and a culture that affords people the time to have a balanced life.
That said, Recess, a wellness program provider, has put together an awesome spoof website and video called When Wellness Sucks.
Check it out. It’s well worth six minutes of your time.
(Hat tip to Kris Dunn at the HR Capitalist.)
G5 Leadership hosts online workshops and keynotes with some really awesome people (like Bill Taylor of FastCompany, Bob Sutton of The No Asshole Rule, and Marshall Goldsmith of What Got You Here Won’t Get You There fame).
Membership costs about $129 a year (or $49 for a single event), but G5 cofounder Steven Smith was kind enough to offer Renegade HR readers a free 1-year membership.
Normally I leery of these kind of things, but Steven sent me the most non-bullshitty email I’ve gotten in a long time. I haven’t attended an event myself yet, but they have some really cool speakers lined up for 2011.
Sound like something you’d like to get in on? Click here and use promo code renegadehr.
